Moral Mondays: Scholars speak out on North Carolina’s new social movement

On September 19, 2013, scholars of social movements and North Carolina history and politics gathered to reflect on key questions about NC’s Moral Monday Movement: in what ways is this movement rooted in the past; in what ways is it a new direction; and what does historical experience tell us about where such movements have floundered and how they can be sustained.

Scholars from area universities shared insights on why North Carolina became such a big national news story this summer: what did the state legislature do that prompted 900 protesters to be arrested and thousands more to join weekly rallies? Why have so many people come together across old boundaries—age, race, religion, sexual orientation and more—in the Moral Monday Movement? And what does history tell us about how such movements have floundered in the past and how they can be sustained? What’s next for North Carolina?

200+ people piled into the Nelson Mandela auditorium at the FedEx Global Education Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, engaging in a rich discussion. Scholar panelists at the event included.

Following the event, Scholars for North Carolina’s future coordinated outreach events around the state to continue the conversation. For example, SNCF visited the Kehillah Synagogue in Chapel Hill and then SNCF members at Wake Forest University facilitated a panel discussion, “Moral Monday and Public Religious Leadership.”